Celtics looking to stay sharp

With eight days in between the last preseason game and the season opener, the Celtics hope to maintain their edge.

Jim Fenton

The Celtics are in the midst of six straight days of practice prior to their season opener against the Miami Heat.

After finishing the eight-game preseason last Sunday night, the Celtics have an eight-day break in between games. They are hoping to stay as sharp as possible without any games in that span.

"Nothing we can do about it,'' said Paul Pierce on Thursday. "At this point, we need to make sure we sharpen up our tools right now. We had a little bit of inconsistency in the preseason, so this is a good time for us to get a week or practice and go over our stuff so we are sharp.''

More than half of the NBA teams finish their preseason schedule on Friday night, and Coach Doc Rivers is glad the Celtics aren't doing that. He would rather have more practice time than a game so close to the opener.

The Heat are playing their final preseason game on Friday, hosting the New Orleans Hornets.